Darwyn Cooke, the multiple Eisner award-winning comic book writer, artist and animator "whose work was known for its bold retro style and singular character, page and cover designs," died May 14, the New York Times reported. He was 53. Cooke won three Eisner Awards for The New Frontier, a six-issue series published in 2004, "including one for best limited series in 2005 and two more in 2007 for the lavish hardcover reprint of the story," the Times noted. He also won seven more, from 2010 to 2014, for his adaptations of four hard-boiled novels by Richard Stark, (a pseudonym used by Donald E. Westlake). His most recent Eisner came last year "for his work on a series of so-called variant covers aimed at collectors."
"There was something fresh and energetic about his work, and his peers envied the light sense of humor and the simplicity of design," wrote comic-book historian Mark Evanier on his blog.